Nicodemus was a Pharisee—a small brainy guy with some political clout in the local Jewish temple. He confronted Jesus with a great amount of fawned respect. It appears he was conjuring up a real deep philosophical question to show that he could hold his own in any religious debate.
Jesus stopped Nicodemus short,before he could get one more syllable out of his mouth.
"I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.
"How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!"(John3:3-4, NIV)
I bet Nicodemus thought he had Jesus in a headlock now. How preposterous a thought, born again!
Just as Nicodemus was ready to open his mouth and let a few words fly,Jesus continued, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying. 'You must be born again.' The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going.So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." (John3:5-8, NIV)
I'm sitting here at the dining room table, the sun is waking up to my earthy neighborhood while I'm sympathizing with Nicodemus. There's no way my collage biology teacher would advocate for such an unscientific notion. On the other hand, John is talking about another neighborhood way beyond anything scientific thought advocates in earthy neighborhoods.
Hey! Wait a minute brain. John reports Jesus saying, "no one can see the kingdom of God unless...he (and I'm adding or she) is born of water and Spirit...the Spirit gives birth to spirit."
Okay.I see them there, big Spirit and little spirit. What you are saying is that the Spirit from the other neighborhood comes to my earthy neighborhood and births a little spirit in me?
I quickly turned the page. But there was no escape. The words literally jumped off the page. For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit. The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. Whoever (That's a big whoever that includes all men, women, and children) believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him. (John3:34-36)
A silent WOW grabbed my lips when those words hit my gray matter. I had a decision to make here. Was I going to close the Book, or take a step beyond anything not found in my earthy neighborhood?
(Read the next chapter to find out.)
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Journey: Into The Never-ending Way
Non-FictionWhy does one travel from a well known neighborhood to another where the outcome of the visit is not yet understood? I could name the streets and places in my neighborhood. There was a well defined map in my head that used comfortable explanations fo...
